This week started off with a program that I signed up for called “Frankly Speaking.”This new 5 week program allows students to pair up with a student of a different cultural group and present the important questions that are often too uncomfortable to ask. Guided by a staff member, students will be prompted to create a dialogue and allows themselves to gain insight on a person from a different cultural group. In addition to weekly dinners you and your partner will be given the opportunity and funds needed to spend time informally to learn from one another and simply have fun. So far it has been a great experience getting to know my partner and the unique characteristics he brings to the table. I would recommend this program to anyone that is willing to explore different cultures and meet new people around campus.

Later in the week I was invited to my friends birthday party dinner at Mongolian Grill. I have not been to Mongolian in over a year now and enjoyed the food and atmosphere immensely. I missed the restaurant and have not really had the chance to go back and say hello to my old co-workers. I saw my mentor Carlos, who is still the best griller around.

Once again CUAB brought another Comedian to campus. Her name was Sabrina and she used her Pakistan background for most of jokes and had most of the crowd laughing constantly. This was the last of the comedians coming from CUAB, but I can not wait to see who they bring in for next year, I might just have to come back and see.

And lastly ah the Rain. We were rained out the entire weekend for baseball against Carthage. We are making the games up throughout this week. We have North Park this weekend and then the Conference Tournament.

Quote of the Week:

“Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds a man down or polishes him up depends on the stuff he’s made of.” – Josh Billings

This past Thursdays I was invited back to an orientation panel with former orientations leaders to speak about out my experiences and indulge the new OL’s in some advice and tips on the upcoming year. It was a great feeling being around all the OL’s I worked with last year as well as new OL’s. I told them a lot of my own stories and some my own experiences that helped me to become a great OL. Some of the advice I gave them was, “As an OL you are the first person that this student meets on campus, you will make or break their first impression of this school. Tell them how it truly is here and do not lie to them. North Central College is what you make of it.”

Baseball-wise we took to wins over Milikin this weekend. Another outstanding performance by Mike Kloss and an overall offensive team battle the second game. It was great to finally take a series at home. Our third game got postponed in the 7^th inning with a tie 9-9. For this upcoming week we are all away with playing Wabash at the Steelyard in Indiana, and Carthage in Kenosha. We make it back Sunday vs. Carthage and then continue our third game against Milikin.

As a senior I look forward to a lot of activities and events in the spring time. But nothing comes close to Springfest. Every year CUAB brings in some great bands that play for hours in Championship plaza. My favorite has always been Mike and Joe; a cover band that travels around the mid-west to colleges rocking out. Not only are Mike and Joe going to be there this year, but also Hair bangers ball and Real Big Fish. Everyone on campus looks forward to this event because of the great spring time weather as well the events that come along with Springfest. For example the bags tournaments and cook outs. I will keep you updated on to how it goes. The date is set for Saturday May 16^th. I can’t wait.

Quote of the Week:

“Everything in life happens for a reason.” – Unknown

Springfest 06′ Freshman Year

This past Friday I was invited to my cooperating teacher’s house for a Japanese themed party. The theme was based on sumo wrestlers, sushi, crazy Japanese robes, and other delectable Japanese dishes. Many of the other PE department teachers were present and were sharing some recent stories about school. I par took in the sushi mostly because it was delicious and I love Sushi. We chatted and reminisced about the days I was there and told some more stories about that. I really got a sense of what I want in terms of the future with the friendships and unity that they have within their department. I hope to one day have relationships outside of schools with my co-workers and my own new stories.

Back to baseball. We had a double header at Elmhurst this weekend where we ended up splitting. Mike Kloss pitched a gem with a complete game and 17 strike outs. The 2^nd game was a ruffle of crazy calls by the umpires and coaches getting their side of it verbalized. We then took it back to the “Zimm” or Zimmerman field. It was a very offensive day where the final score was 18-8, caused mainly from the 7 errors on Elmhurst. We still need some work on the mound and when it all comes together I can not wait.

Sunday I went to church with my Grandma in Chicago and had some delicious brunch at a near by restaurant. My family and I traveled to my uncles house in St. Charles for Easter and divulged in some lamb and ham. My uncle being a very outdoors guy let me shoot his bow and arrow. It was awesome, but I recommend stretching your rotator cuff out before using it. A bond fire was set outside as well where me and my family talked over and celebrated the lovely holiday of Easter.

This next week is going to be a much filled week with baseball, senior gift committee, and a bunch of other adventures I always embark on every week,

Quote of the week:

“Don’t let the past steal your present.” – Cherralea Morgen

Shooting in St. Charles

Baseball Continued: We went to Augustana to try and get two more wins from the fierce Vikings but came up emptied handed. Along with 2 other mid week losses to Wheaton. I feel that we have a great team, probably the best team I have been on in my fours years here at NCC. We just need to put all 3 aspects of the game together: hitting, pitching, and defense. We play Illinois Wesleyan this weekend coming up and we haven’t beaten them in over 7 years.

This Friday once again Res-Life put together a free cosmic bowling where me and some friends indulged in free pizza, pop, and bowling. It was a lot of fun considering it was free and also I like bowling. For you future students I will reiterate when something is free around campus GO, it’s always better when it’s free.

Saturday I had a couple of laughs with the comedian Retta that CUAB brought in. she was pretty funny relating a lot of her jokes to being over weight and lazy. A lot of people came out and hopefully the next comedian will be just as good.

Side note I plan on visiting Madison Jr. High late this week just to say hello and see how everyone is doing. Also I have my first interview at Schaumberg District 54 this Thursday, wish me luck.

Quote of the Week:

“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. A little learning is a dangerous thing.” – Alexander Pope (English poet, 1680-1744)

China “The Great Wall” Summer 07

Continuing from that last blog we traveled down to Atlanta on a coach bus for about 14 hours. We watched a bunch of random movies from Mr. Baseball (an 80’s classic) to Role Models. It was a great ride down there because of all the different personalities we have on the team.

Unfortunately we came out empty handed with a 0-4 record. The two colleges we visited were Emory and Oglethorpe. Emory was a beautiful school and everything was so close and compacted together, which I loved. But I did not like the tuition of 50,000 dollars. Oglethorpe was a very old university with the east side wall of the baseball stadium built like a castle. they were very welcoming schools and I enjoyed playing ball at their stadiums. Although we did not come out the way we wanted to I still had a blast with the guys and brought back some stories I will never forget.

The trip bridged us into our 1^st conference game vs. Augustana. We beat the Vikings 7-6 winning on an outstanding performance from every player. We then ended up getting rained out on Sunday and need to make them up on Monday of this week.

My first day off class starts up this week and I cannot wait. The last four classes of my college career at NCC. I have 2 general education (gen. ed.) classes along with a high EDN (education) and a high health class. It should not be that bad, but we shall see. Ill will keep you updated on how things go, but until then here is a quote from out sponsors.

Quote of the Week:

 ”In life, dance like no one is watching and love like it will never hurt.” – Bill Kurtis

Some of the Baseball Boys at Chili’s in Atlanta GA.